Grandma-P’s Neighborhood

So we finally had it, the kid’s 2^nd birthday party.

Everything went well. Aside from the 3yo who decided that she should “help” open presents and got a little miffed when I kindly shooed her away. I know young’uns are self-centered and all (do we ever really grow out of that??) but seriously, this is Stephan’s moment in the spotlight!

pool time

I wasn’t able to take many pictures, but it seemed like everyone else was taking pictures so I just need to snag those from them. Made it easier to enjoy the party and be in the moment. Andy did get video of the present opening fiasco.

We started out with pool time and some fun in the back yard, and then ate lunch. All of Stephan’s favorites: Annie’s bunny mac’n’cheese, hot dogs, strawberries & apple juice. The toddlers were in heaven … so were the adults J

After a little break to clean things up (Stephan was picking food off the girls’ plates and I wanted him to at least have a little room for dessert), we did presents. He did a great job opening them and letting us take them away while he did the next one. Then we did dessert. In line with all his favorites we had some homemade vanilla ice cream and 3 Musketeer bars. That’s right, no cake. Kid won’t just eat it.

On to wrapping things up and working on heading home for nappy. He totally fell asleep the instant his head hit the pillow. Nice, since I was able to open up and undo all his gifts so he’ll be ready to play when he wakes up.

I used to work at a bakery here in town, and one day a camera crew from Rosetta Stone came through and photographed a cake in different stages of being decorated.  They got shots of me with the cake as well as some models they brought along and staged a variety of situations.  As it turned out, they offered my boss a copy of the software if she was interested.  I found out a few days ago that a copy of the Rosetta Stone Spanish course – the Latin America version was waiting at the bakery to be picked up.  I just dropped by there today after the farmer’s market and picked up the box.  This is level one and retails at $219.  There is also an online option for immersion language training.  Shane has got the box out and is already into the software and I guess I’m waiting my turn.  But so far we are both very impressed with the gift!  So a huge “THANK YOU!” to Boss Lady at the Bakery for my brand new copy of Rosetta Stone software!  And thank you Rosetta Stone!  We are very grateful and I’m looking forward to learning the language that my children speak. 

http://www.rosettastone.com/

We decided to try a bed rail for the full size bed in Stephan's room. He's been asking to sleep in the bed and we want it to be safer for him. Of course this is yet another transition for him so the next week could be a mess. We're going to offer him the choice of the big bed or his crib mattress on the floor. For nap the past few days he wanted the big bed (and did a good job in the big bed at nana & papa's yesterday too) but that was with an extra pillow reigning him in, not a bed rail. He was a little wild this evening after we put it on the bed, but toddlers sometimes struggle with change.

He choose to sleep in the big bed tonight, we'll see if he falls asleep fine or not. He should be tired at least!

All I really want to say is ... damn you Jardine for even making us have to deal with this right now!

Whenever our voucher comes we'll head out and buy a new crib, take it all out of the box and make sure we have all the pieces and that the parts are fine, put it back in the box and sore it somewhere ... who knows where ... till we have to start getting ready for baby #2.

At least if Stephan transitions to the big bed we can be done with bed transitions. Here's to hoping for the best.

Sophie and I got a girl's day out today. Victoria had a slumber party and Josiah went to Six Flags with his bestest friend in the whole wide world.

I had to track down a movie theatre in the area that was still playing the American Girl Doll movie. Seems it got bumped from a bunch of theatres because of The Dark Knight. I had been promising her all week we would go. Most of the showings were too early. I finally found one in Annapolis that was showing at 4:10pm.

I got everyone else to where they were going and we headed out. I was super excited because there is an Amish market AND a Whole Foods in the same shopping center. I needed more truffles (Yes, I finished off the box I bought Monday night, but in my defense I shared with the kids, my mom, my sister in law, and broke them out on TV Thursday.) and wanted to grab some creme fraiche since no local store sells it.

The movie was good, but a bit of a tear jerker. Not once, not twice, but like 5 times at least. The Great Depression was definitely depressing. The cool thing was almost every group that came in consisted of a mom, some kids, and a great grandma (at least, I'm assuming it was a great grandma, they all looked like my Mom-Mom). There was even an elderly couple by themselves. I couldn't help but think that my Mom-Mom would've enjoyed it, considering she lived through the Great Depression herself.

After the movie we hit up Whole Foods. I bought my truffles and creme fraiche. I also picked up some cute grocery bags that were made from recycled plastic bottles. I love me some reusable bags. I hate plastic grocery bags with a vengence. They always seem to multiply and it's gotten to the point that I feel horribly guilty throwing them away knowing they are just going to sit in a landfill somewhere. The hardest thing is making sure I remember to take my bags into the grocery store when I shop.

On the way home, Sophie was dropping hints about going to dinner at Sakura, a Japanese hibachi restaurant. I was trying to steer her toward a local Korean restaurant, even reminding her that Jon and Kate Plus 8 just made Korean food. She could have some just like they made. She wasn't buying it though.

Steve got home shortly after us, and was like, let's go to Sakura, without Soph ever saying a word. Needless to say, she was thrilled. She was also thrilled to find she is too old for the kid's menu, so she got an adult portion. Nothing like a good dinner and enough leftovers for lunch the next day. Knowing Sophie, she may just break it out for breakfast.  

So, anyway, I'm rambling. Soph's in bed, so Steve and I are going to curl up and watch a movie.

So Jen's already lost two pounds, which is awesome. :)  I have not lost any weight although the positive news is, I haven't gained any either.

I've been really hungry today, but fortunately I got a bunch of 100 calorie snacks at the grocery store, so it's not as awful as it could be.

The bad thing about this diet is it feels like all I can talk about now is food--what I'm eating, what I want to eat, what I plan on eating...ugh.  I'm boring myself so I feel for all of you.  On the plus side, I know that since I'm telling Jen what I'm eating for meals and snacks, I'm eating a lot better than I normally would be.

I need to go to Whole Foods on Monday and pick up some green tea.  I got the berry flavored kind marketed by Coke (which actually does taste like wine coolers, Janie!) but the Whole Foods kind is cheaper (and who would ever think that would be true?).  It isn't flavored, but for something that will enable me to burn up to 150 extra calories a day, I think I can force myself to deal with whatever it does taste like.

Still reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, which is awesome.  Also, while I was in Salisbury, I picked this up:

Zombie Blondes

Brian James

Mostly for the title.  I think that'll be a really good companion to Breaking Dawn and the way I'm going on Edgar Sawtelle, there's a really good chance I'll only have a chance to read one book between the two of them.

I post this rather sheepishly because I know it's not extraordinary to grow tomatoes.  I've read they're some of the easiest vegetables to grow.  But, for me the following photo does show a gardening feat (as I tend to kill anything green)...or at least vast improvement from where I was in garden cultivation a couple years ago.

Homegrown tomatoes!

They taste amazing.  Which is definitely worth the little bit of work it takes.  Also, in the age of the salmonella scare the peace of mind knowing these were grown in my backyard helps.

I will definitely be growing more of these babies in subsequent years. Now if only I could move to a new residence with a little more land...

"There's only one way to succeed in anything
and that is to give everything."
- Vince Lombardi

So yesterday I had the best dinner ever.  I probably ate more than I should have, but I ate to the point of being full, not to the point of wanting to die.  So that's progress. :)

And for those of you who don't know, my aunt makes the best dinners.  (My mom is no slouch, but my aunt is the one who reads the gourmet magazines and watches cooking shows.)

So we had:

Maryland crab soup (tomato-based), broccoli salad, macaroni salad, fried green tomatoes (specifically for me, because I'd been wanting to try them and they're not like Turkish delight!  They're really good!), salmon, crab cakes, green beans and yukon potatoes.  For drinks, you had your choice of peach and strawberry margaritas (made with real fruit).  For dessert?  Homemade peach ice cream.  Holy crap, so good.  SO GOOD.

So I'm ready and the car is packed.  I'm having breakfast with friends soon and Sam and I are likely going to head home around 10, 10:30 at the latest. 

The best part of this vacation is that I got to see all my friends this time.  Most trips, I'll get to see one set or another, but not everyone.  So this was really, really fun. :)

And once I get home, I need to unpack and do some laundry. :)  And set up my computer so I can get online again. 

My allergies weren't too bad this trip except I woke up today and I've barely stopped sneezing.  I took some allergy meds and I hope they kick in soon.

In other news, I'm reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle and it's amazing.  It's one of those books that makes me remember why I am a compulsive reader.  (And let's be honest--compulsive is the only word for it.)

Stephen King gave it this huge, glowing review saying (among other things) that he envied people who were just starting the book because of the experience they had ahead of them.  And he said that he doesn't re-read many books because life is too short but he'll be re-reading this one.

The last time I was home, a coworker who I trade books with called me (knowing I was on vacation) to tell me that I had to read this book.  I'm about 200 pages in or so (out of 562) and it's incredible.  I'm only able to read it in bits and pieces and I am actually missing it when I'm not reading it.

I'm tired again.

One of the reasons I like working with youth.

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It took no prompting from anyone to for Dan to do this.
We traveled 14 miles on the Elk River below Tims Ford dam. Unfortunately, thunder inhibited our trip and then lightning stopped us while we stood on the bank in rain for about an hour and a half.
But, the boys enjoyed it.

Qurkey sense of  humor struck me on this . Given all the times I have had to find the result for x

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